MIT Graduate Dies Trying to Climb the School's Dome as Part of a Prank

A Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) graduate died while attempting to climb the university’s 150 foot-high dome.

Nicholas Paggi, 24, died after he slipped and fell while trying to climb MIT’s roof near the dome, CBS Boston reported.

His mother, Helga Paggi, said her son climbed the dome as part of a prank.

Paggi was working as a software engineer and had graduated in 2015 with “degrees in computer science & engineering and physics,” MIT’s student newspaper the Tech reports.

“He was one of the greatest computer programmers I’ve worked with,” Dr. Rich Fletcher said. “He was a great mentor to all students, it’s such a loss to all of us.”

“Paggi had been involved with MIT’s D-Lab, which prototypes technologies to alleviate poverty,” and remained involved with the project as a consultant after graduation.

Fletcher also said Paggi was known for his sense of humor.

The university president also acknowledged the former student’s death.

“Our hearts go out to Nicholas’s family and friends as they cope with this unexpected loss,” Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s President Rafael Reif wrote in an email.